FreedomWorks - highwayshttp://www.freedomworks.org/fieldtags/highways
enA gas tax hike would only preserve Washington's culture of mismanagement and wastehttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/gas-tax-hike-would-only-preserve-washingtons-culture-mismanagement-and-waste
<div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="//d7.freedomworks.org.s3.amazonaws.com/styles/large/s3/field/image/trib-money-paved-road.jpg?itok=0WeQ7GMX"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="//d7.freedomworks.org.s3.amazonaws.com/styles/large/s3/field/image/trib-money-paved-road.jpg?itok=0WeQ7GMX" width="480" height="259" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>The federal Highway Trust Fund, after years of being raided by Congress to pay for wasteful transportation and extravagant infrastructure projects, faces a $160 billion shortfall over the next decade, which has some lawmakers from both sides of the aisle openly floating a bailout in the form of a gas tax hike.</p>
<p>The shortfall isn't a problem created solely by wasteful spending, though it's certainly a big part of the issue, as the trust fund has doled out billions for lawmakers' pet highway and mass transit projects. A couple of other drivers that are exacerbating the problem, however, are the fact that Americans <a href="http://fortune.com/2014/08/15/america-driving-cars/">are driving less overall</a> and the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/16/cars-in-the-u-s-are-more-fuel-efficient-than-ever-heres-why/">rise of fuel-efficient vehicles</a>. Because raising the gas tax is politically unpopular, Congress routinely transfers money from the general fund to cover annual shortfalls.</p>
<p>Sens. <a href="http://congress.freedomworks.org/legislators/bob-corker">Bob Corker</a> (R-TN) and <a href="http://congress.freedomworks.org/legislators/christopher-s-murphy">Chris Murphy</a> (D-CT) have been the main figures behind the push to raise the gas tax. Last year, the lawmakers <a href="http://www.corker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-list?ID=550d5eec-706c-4d72-a3e4-7311441e2e98">proposed a 12-cent gas tax hike</a>, phased in over two years, also indexing it to the Consumer Price Index. The plan, <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/209769-murphy-and-corker-propose-raising-164-billion-through-higher-gas-tax">according to <em>The Hill</em></a>, would've raised tax $164 billion over the next ten years. The proposal also called for "tax relief" through the renewing so-called "tax extenders" -- many of which are tax credits, and, therefore, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/business/economy/taxes-or-spending-budget-fight-in-congress-focuses-on-a-distinction.html">considered to be spending in real terms</a> -- or another unspecified plan.</p>
<p>Corker and Murphy <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/01/11/tenn-sen-corker-calls-for-federal-gas-tax-hike/21617973/">have rehashed the idea</a> in the opening days of the 114th Congress, receiving a warm reception from other lawmakers, <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/228833-key-gop-senator-says-gas-tax-hike-possible">including</a> Sens. <a href="http://congress.freedomworks.org/legislators/john-thune">John Thune</a> (R-SD) and <a href="http://congress.freedomworks.org/legislators/james-m-inhofe">Jim Inhofe</a> (R-OK), both chairman of powerful committees. To his credit, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/102321926">is cool gas tax hike</a>, though he <a href="http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/boehner-leaves-door-open-on-gas-tax-proposal/">left himself some wiggle room</a>. But tax-hiking Senate Republicans can rest comfortably knowing that House Minority Leader <a href="http://congress.freedomworks.org/legislators/nancy-pelosi-0">Nancy Pelosi</a> (D-CA) <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/228918-pelosi-time-is-now-for-gas-tax-hike">is totally on their side</a>.</p>
<p>The <em>Washington Examiner</em>'s editorial board took a shot at Republicans considering the idea, noting that raising the gas tax wasn't part of the mandate that voters handed them in November. "To raise the federal gas tax now is to keep control in Washington," <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/republicans-werent-elected-to-raise-the-gas-tax/article/2558555">the weekly paper said</a>, "the same town so many Republicans campaigned against and called dysfunctional in the election just past. It would send a terrible signal about the party's sincerity, and about its new majority."</p>
<p>Though it receives the most attention in the media, the Corker-Murphy plan isn't the only one out there. In November 2013, Sen. <a href="http://congress.freedomworks.org/legislators/mike-lee">Mike Lee</a> (R-UT) and <a href="http://congress.freedomworks.org/legislators/tom-graves">Tom Graves</a> (R-GA) introduced the <a href="http://www.lee.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/the-transportation-empowerment-act">Transportation Empowerment Act</a>, a measure, <a href="http://www.freedomworks.org/content/tell-your-members-congress-support-transportation-empowerment-act">supported by FreedomWorks</a>, that would significantly reduce the gas tax and cut out the bureaucratic federal middleman.</p>
<p>This measure would allow states and local governments -- which receive approximately 25 percent of their highway and mass transit project funding from the federal government, <a href="http://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Kile%20Testimony.pdf">according to the Congressional Budget Office</a> -- to prioritize projects based on their needs, without any strings attached.</p>
<p>Though it hasn't yet been reintroduced in this week-old Congress, the Transportation Empowerment Act is exactly the sort of reform-minded approach around which Republicans should rally. A gas tax hike further perceptions that Republicans don't govern by the rhetoric on which they run, it's bad policy because it wouldn't address the fundamental problems with the Highway Trust Fund and reward the very bureaucracy and mismanagement that are a big part of the problem.</p>
</div></div></div>Tue, 13 Jan 2015 17:56:32 +0000jpye61005 at http://www.freedomworks.orghttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/gas-tax-hike-would-only-preserve-washingtons-culture-mismanagement-and-waste#commentsOregon Mileage Tax Proposal Fails To Solve the Root Problemhttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/oregon-mileage-tax-proposal-fails-solve-root-problem
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><em>If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet.</em></p><p><img src="http://d7.freedomworks.org.s3.amazonaws.com/traffic-jam.jpg" alt="Traffic Jam" title="Traffic Jam" width="219" height="223" class="imagecache imagecache-full">Ah, Oregon, crucible of socialism and training ground for Trotskyites. If it seems like every utopian progressive policy comes from my fair state, well, where there's smoke there's fire. The latest is a new revenue source - <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/21/oregon-plan-to-replace-gas-tax-with-milage-tax-raised-concerns-on-privacy-cost/">taxing the mileage you drive instead of the fuel you consume</a>.</p><p>The latest scheme is the state's attempt to backfill tax revenues that have cratered due to our horrible economic climate. Oh, state officials will tell you it's because we're such successful progressives that we need to invent new revenue streams. But really, we need more money in this state because the utopians have destroyed our economy and all the revenue streams with it.</p><p>Here's what's happening. Gas tax revenue is falling precipitously, causing a crisis in transportation budgets. The reason most often cited for this crisis is that cars are more efficient, and fewer people are driving than they used to, presumably opting for public transit. So we need a new revenue source to make up for the loss of revenue caused by all those good little environmentalists.</p><p>Civil libertarians are correct to ... shall we say ... look askance at this scheme. The invasions of privacy involved in potentially transitioning this from a voluntary to a mandatory system are enough to evoke the image of Big Brother in even the most ardent leftist (whether they consider that a frightening image, or a welcomed one).</p><p>Be that as it may, the underlying premise sounds plausible, until one considers that Oregon has consistently had an unemployment rate well above the national average, <a href="http://www.qualityinfo.org/olmisj/ArticleReader?itemid=00008702">while the labor force participation rate has fallen off a cliff</a>.&nbsp; Could the lack of gas tax revenues have anything to do with the notion that fewer people are driving to work? Could it be that job creators have fled and taken jobs with them? Could it possibly be that the old saw is true, that we don't need more taxes, we need more taxpayers?</p><p>Nah, that's crazy talk.<br><br></p></div></div></div>Thu, 24 Oct 2013 13:17:11 +0000LT180058015 at http://www.freedomworks.orghttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/oregon-mileage-tax-proposal-fails-solve-root-problem#commentsPortland As Mass Transit Mecca: A Failure To Launchhttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/portland-mass-transit-mecca-failure-launch
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><img src="http://watchdog.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/4518341765_44fcaf359a.jpg" width="210" height="316">Oregon's largest city, Portland, has long been a model of transit planning and alternate forms of transportation. Ever since the days of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Goldschmidt">Neil Goldschmidt</a>, regional leaders have adapted the planning model to attempt to force commuters from cars to such mass transit options as bus, light rail and street car (paradoxically not considered the same thing). Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) has famously <a href="http://www.ti.org/vaupdate16.html">championed MORE congestion</a> as a way to force people out of their cars. Despite this high powered attempt to paint Portland as a mecca for extremists hoping to end individual reliance on cars, the results show little actual positive effect.</p><p>In 2010, <a href="http://spectator.org/archives/2011/03/08/portland-going-nowhere">Portland hosted "Rail-Volution"</a>, a day of seminars, demonstrations and celebrations of the light rail transformation of the city:</p><blockquote><p>When they weren’t riding demo trips on the light rail, they attended seminars with names like “Bikeways and Green Streets,” “High-Speed-Rail and Development Paradigm Shifts,” and “Sustainable Communities for the New Economy.” Portland’s mayor presided over one of the seminars, and Earl Blumenauer, the left-wing congressman who represents Portland’s east side, was a featured speaker. The event, one local wag noted, had the air of a religious revival.</p></blockquote><p>However, the resultant reliance on federal funding for mass transit and a lack of investment in freeway expansion has led to several negative results, including <a href="http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2011/03/portland-commuters-arent-so-green.html">far greater commute times</a> and a reduction in <a href="http://cascadepolicy.org/pdf/env/drain.htm">funding for other forms of transit</a> - bus lines have been <a href="http://cascadepolicy.org/pdf/env/P_1004.htm">cannibalized by light rail</a>. And the flow of new studies continues unabated showing that this reliance on mass transit has almost no effect on commuters.</p><p>One such article was published just this week by Wendell Cox, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0595399487?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=newgeogrcom-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0595399487">War on the Dream: How Anti-Sprawl Policy Threatens the Quality of Life</a>. On the blog New Geography, <a href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/003849-portland-s-transit-halcyon-days">he writes</a>,</p><blockquote><p>Since 1980, before the first rail line was opened, transit’s share of work trip travel in the metropolitan area has declined by one-quarter, from 8.4 percent to 6.3 percent. Overall, the share of travel by car remains about the same as before the first light rail line opened [in 1986].</p><p>Transit access to destinations outside downtown Portland remains scant. Despite the huge expenditures on transit, <a href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/002251-transit-the-4-percent-solution" rel="nofollow">only 8 percent of the jobs in the metropolitan area</a> can be reached by the average employee in 45 minutes, despite the fact that nearly 85 percent of workers are within walking distance of the transit stops or stations.</p><p>According to the latest American Community Survey data, the average work trip by people driving alone in Portland is 23.6 minutes, while the average transit commute trip is 43.8 minutes.</p><p>Further, Portland transit users could face draconian service reductions. Tri-Met, which operates light rail and most Oregon services, has warned that it may be required eventually to <a href="http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2013/02/trimet_general_manager_warns_o.html" rel="nofollow">cut 70 percent of its service.</a> This results from the failure to control labor costs, particularly pension costs, which is detailed in an <a href="http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2012/05/trimet_workers_management_appe.html" rel="nofollow">Oregonian article</a>.</p></blockquote><p>As a resident of a suburb of Portland, I can personally attest to the uselessness of light rail. I live within a 4 block walk of one MAX stop, and used to work in a building right at another stop. Yet I was unable to commute via mass transit, because I had children to take to school, various other stops to make along the way, and a need to get to meetings outside my work hours that required me to have my own personal vehicle. What light rail proponents fail to consider is what we like to call "real life", where errands are run and groceries are bought and kids are brought to soccer practice and violin lessons. The stats bear this out.</p><p>It's a wonder that planners even still consider these to be viable options.</p></div></div></div>Tue, 30 Jul 2013 18:54:50 +0000LT180057704 at http://www.freedomworks.orghttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/portland-mass-transit-mecca-failure-launch#comments